Two black radio hosts based in Arizona were gifted the trademark for the phrase “White Lives Matter” after a listener procured it so that it wouldn’t fall into “the wrong hands.”
Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, made massive waves last month when he used the slogan on t-shirts for his Paris Fashion Week show. The listener filed for the trademark on the same day as the event.
The hosts, Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward, were gifted rights to the phrase on October 28, by an anonymous listener of their show, Civic Cipher.
Capital B News reports, “the listener procured ownership of the phrase early last month to ensure it didn’t fall into the wrong hands, and offered to transfer the trademark to Ja and Ward in September. It officially entered their possession on Oct. 28, giving them sole ownership over the phrase and the ability to sue anyone who uses the saying for financial gain.”
The radio show was launched after the 2020 riots over the death of George Floyd to promote social justice activism.
Speaking to Capital B, Ja said they would not rule out selling the trademark and donating the money to the NAACP or Black Lives Matter.
Now, Ja has told TMZ that they would be willing to sell it for no less than one billion dollars.
“The listener transferred ownership over to Ramses and Quinton a few weeks back … and it covers the right to sell clothing with those words displayed,” TMZ reports. “Ramses says their lawyer would take legal action against Kanye, or anyone else if the shirts are sold … and the $1 billion price tag would appear to be an even bigger deterrent.”
Following the fashion show, Ye began making severely controversial statements about “Jewish control” of media and the entertainment industry, prompting some of his biggest partnerships to terminate their relationships with him. This included fashion house Balenciaga and the sportswear giant Adidas.
As Timcast previously reported, in October, Forbes removed Ye from their billionaires’ list due to the lost contracts. Ye’s partnership with Adidas, the outlet reports, accounted for $1.5 billion of Ye’s net worth.
Forbes reported, “without Adidas, Ye is worth $400 million. The remainder of Ye’s fortune, Forbes estimates, comes from real estate, cash, his music catalog and a 5% stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims. (A source close to Skims told Forbes Ye hasn’t been involved with the brand since its 2019 launch.)”
